‘Lagos spent N100m on holiday jobs’

Lagos State Government said it spent N100 million on payment of stipends to 5,000 secondary school leavers engaged for vacation jobs in the state.

The state’s Head of Service, Mrs. Folashade Jaji, disclosed this while addressing journalists at Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

She said the beneficiaries received N10,000 stipends for each of the two months they were engaged, adding that the initiative was meant to inculcate some core values, such as dignity of labour and work ethics in the students.

“I am elated to place on record the Babatunde Fashola administration’s consistency in the area of vacation jobs for Secondary School Leavers. It is heartening to state that the office of the Head of Service between the months of August and September 2014 engaged 5,000 secondary school leavers in the vacation jobs.

“The vacation jobbers, who received monthly stipends of N10, 000 each for the two months, were deployed to MDAs, parastatals, local governments and local council development areas in the state to experience what working life entails and more importantly to appreciate the dignity of labour and imbibe the core values and work ethics in the public service.

“Also, part of the programme is to ensure that youths were meaningfully engaged during the long holiday and were able to earn some income during the period.

“I must note that this programme was applauded by many of the participants and their parents while testimonies abound as they used the money to buy the unified Matriculation Examination forms to facilitate their admission into tertiary institutions.”

Jaji also informed that the Staff Housing Board, an arm of the Head of Service office granted housing loans to the tune of N94, 341, 740.00 to civil servants in the state.